Iron Man Retold
by Ozymandius
Summary: A retelling of the Iron Man Movie with Yu-gi-oh Characters Starring Seto Kaiba. Rated T for Language.
1. Chapter 1

Hey fans! I haven't had much time to write lately but I started this awhile ago, right after I saw the movie Iron Man. After I saw it I thought, hey I could do a Yu-gi-oh version of that pretty easily (I hope) since all of the characters are already in place. I won't be a direct retelling of the story for alot of reasons but mostly cause Seto doesn't have the sense of humor to be like Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark. This is just a prolouge. Kind of a test to see if anyone thinks I should continue so let me know what you think. Again due to time restraints I probably won't be able to answer every review if this story gets popular but I'll try. Also some things will be changed. For example, Kaiba corp will be an American company in this and as such Domino City will be located in California for this.

I don't own Yu-gi-oh or Iron man

* * *

Prolouge

Seto Kaiba sat up straighter in his seat and tried to hold his laptop steady as the hummer bounced over the uneven terrain. He hated these trips, even if a part of him believed they were necessary, running all over the world peddling his step father's weapons was never fun. But it was better to put the best, biggest guns in the hands of the good guys than to let the bad guys push the world into anarchy. Sometimes weapons and violence were needed to protect the greater good, although if he had his way, Kaibacorp would be making gaming systems instead of missile systems.

"Excuse me sir?" The soldier on his left asked.

Seto fixed him with an annoyed glare and the man swallowed nervously.

"I, I mean Mr. Kaiba sir." He said looking like right then he wanted to be anywhere but that vehicle. "C-Can I g-get a-a-a picture?" The man stuttered.

"No." Seto replied and turned back to his laptop. He was writing to Mokuba who was away at boarding school. It had been his one request before he agreed to go on these sales trips. It prevented Gozaburo from messing with him while he was gone.

"I don't think he likes you, Chambers." The soldier seated on his right quipped.

"I don't think he likes anyone sarge." Chambers replied. The sergeant and the driver started laughing. Kaiba ignored them. He didn't care if he was liked, that wasn't his job. His job was to design and sell weaponry. Even if he hated it.

The soldiers had just started some kind of inane conversation about their wives when the hummer was suddenly rocked by a powerful explosion as the vehicle in front of them turned into a fireball. As the soldiers in the escort took cover and began exchange fire with their unseen adversaries, Kaiba quickly uploaded a virus into his laptop to destroy all the files and designs he had saved on the hard drive. Once he was sure that whoever was attacking him would not be able to recover anything from it, he jumped out of the hummer and ran for cover behind a nearby rock. He started to send a text message relaying his approximate position, when a whistle and the sound of something hitting the ground near him caught his attention. As he looked up, he saw a missile had landed near him. He saw the Kaibacorp logo imprinted on it before it exploded. For a second his world was white, before fading to blackness.

* * *

Also I need Ideas on who to make the Rhodes character. He was the only one who I couldn't place.

Your choices are:

Yugi

Atem

Joey

Tristan

Pegasus

Other ideas will be considered even potential crossovers.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Just a Quick note I'd like to thank Silver Hunteress and Pinfeathers for the reviews and apoligize for the long delay on this. It been a crazy couple months. Oh well on to the story.

I do not own Yu-gi-Oh or Iron Man.

Chapter 2

30 hours earlier.

An extravagant party had been arranged to present Gozaburo Kaiba with an award for contributions made to various charities. These contributions had been made in the name of Kaibacorp although Gozaburo knew nothing about them until he received the invitation. They had been Seto's doing and Gozaburo was trying to think up an appropriate punishment for giving away his money. He had just finished adjusting his tie when he heard an all too familiar voice behind him.

"Well don't you look charming." Seto sneered. He liked this. He knew his stepfather would rather cut off a limb than donate to charity, ANY charity. The fact that it had gone to war orphans that he caused was probably eating at his soul.

Gozaburo glared at him before answering with mock kindness. "My dear stepson, how could I not like you giving away my money to a bunch of poor, helpless, disease ridden wastes of life." He could see Seto tense up. He knew that insulting orphans of ANY type got to him on a personal level.

Seto was about to respond when the driver entered the room. "Your limo is waiting Sir, and the plane is ready to leave for the demonstration tomorrow."

Gozaburo nodded and walked past Seto heading for the door when an idea occurred to him. He would get rid of Seto and start working on Mokuba's training, he had neglected it for too long now. He looked at Seto and said "I know just the thing to do. You're going to earn the money you gave to those orphans."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Seto asked, not liking the sound of this one bit.

"Simple, you will accompany me to the dinner tonight and act like we're the best of friends.."

"I'd rather gouge out my eyes…"

"You didn't let me finish my boy. After the dinner you will get on that plane go on this little sales trip for me. I know how you love them so." The glare he got in response was worth the money spent and with a smirk on his face he pushed past his "son" and out to the waiting limo with Seto following angrily behind him.

"Why the hell would I ever consent to that?"

"Because if you don't I'll pull your dear brother out of that boarding school." Gozaburo said with a grin.

Seto growled but didn't put up any more resistance. He had to keep Mokuba away from this man. No matter the cost.

All through the dinner party Seto watched Gozaburo and he had to admit he was impressed. The man could swindle any con artist and he had the press as well as the people from the war orphans charity eating out of his hand. They really believed that he was this great humanitarian. What made this even worse was who was sitting at the table with him.

"Look at him, what an actor." Tea said. Appointed by Gozaburo to be his assistant after he found out how much she annoyed him the only thing they could agree upon was that Gozaburo was the most evil man on the planet. "I mean you would actually think he cared about those kids."

"You would think so." Seto said. "But I've known him for long enough that I can read how disgusted he really is. Knowing that he's as miserable as I am is the only thing making this night bearable."

"Oh come Kaiba, the food is good, the band is great, and that snake hasn't been within twenty feet of you all night, lighten up."

"First off Gardner, the food is sub par, second I've heard better bands at high school recitals, and third even if that bastard hadn't been within a thousand feet of me it would still be too close."

Tea sighed. She could see he wasn't in one of his better moods, although for most it was hard to tell the difference. However, in the last year she had been his assistant she had learned to read him and while he was usually short with people, and almost always looked like he was ready to decapitate you if you got too close (too close being about fifty feet) there were some subtle signs if you knew where to look. The most obvious being in his shoulders which always held a perfect posture but if you knew him well enough you see when some of the tenseness left them. The second was in his eyes they would hold just a bit less hostility although the difference was so tiny you would need to be able get very close to be able to see and most people just didn't have the nerve for that. And the third was in his voice. He would lose some of the harshness and anger and he wouldn't throw out insults as fast. These were all very rare and she clearly wouldn't be seeing any tonight.

"Mr. Kaiba? Or may I call you Seto?" a voice said from behind him.

Seto cringed. He knew that voice and would rather be anywhere else than here at the moment. He turned his head to see none other than Mai Valentine the annoying reporter for the Domino Sun and popular anchor woman for the local news standing with her usual throng of followers at her heel. As usual it looked like she had attracted every loser in the place and since she always dressed like she should be prowling some street corner, he wasn't surprised. And as usual her cameraman/boyfriend/pain in his ass Joey Wheeler was there glaring at the crowd of admirers and at him in turn as though he couldn't decide who he hated more. "What the hell do you want Valentine? And its Kaiba to you and your lapdog."

Joey's head snapped around, his full attention on Seto now. "What did you say you rich snob? I dare you to say it again now that you have to say it to my face."

Tea saw the smirk on Kaiba's face appear and his eyes lit up with the challenge and she knew this was going to turn out badly. Mai saw it too and tried to stop Joey just as Tea opened her mouth to cut off Seto. But Kaiba beat them to it.

"What's the matter? Did I hurt the puppy's feelings? You know Valentine you aren't allowed to bring pets into places like this, there are leash laws and you should have left him tied up outside. The only dogs that should be in here are seeing-eye dogs. Are you blind? You know what? You must be blind after all you are dating Wheeler." Kaiba smirked and Tea had to admit this was the most pleased he had seemed all night. Mai however, who had been holding Joey back until then, narrowed her eyes at Kaiba before she let Joey go.

Joey tackled Kaiba and pretty soon they were throwing punches, kicking, and yelling curses. Security was called and cameras started to flash capturing the disgraceful display. On the stage Gozaburo was laughing, this was the most entertainment he had gotten all day. By the time everything had settled down Joey, who had started the fight and lacked Kaiba's influence, was on his way to jail while Kaiba was being treated for a rather large cut above his eye.

Mai walked over to Kaiba. She glared at him. "Are you happy now?"

Kaiba smirked and responded. "Let's see I got to punch Wheeler, got him sent to jail, and got out of that terrible party so yes I would say I'm as close to happy as I've been all night."

Tea groaned. "Come on Kaiba can't you be nice just once?"

"I don't do nice."

"Did you do this?" Mai asked handing him a report.

He looked at it. "What is this?" he asked.

"It's what I wanted to talk to you about. The report says that some organization calling itself Paradias is using weapons purchased from Kaibacorp to commit atrocities in Afghanistan and other parts of the middle east. Do you have a comment?"

"I do." Seto said. "Impossible. All of our shipments are strictly regulated and go only to recognized, allied governments." With that Seto got to his feet and walked over to the limo that had just pulled up and got in. Tea gave Mai an apologetic look before following him.

For almost ten minutes they sat there looking out their respective windows. Seto was relishing the quiet and hoping that Gardner was angry enough at him that she would choose not to talk to him for the ride to the airport.

"Hey Kaiba?"

Damn.

"What Gardner?"

"Do you think that what Mai said about Kaibacorp weapons being sold to terrorists is true?"

For a second Seto said nothing, then he sighed. "It isn't possible. While I don't doubt Gozaburo is enough of a snake that he wouldn't hesitate to sell out his own country, I check every shipment that goes out and I track them to make sure they get where they're going. I don't see how they could be getting them. They're probably getting them from those damn Schroeders who are using knock-offs to give Kaibacorp a bad name. Regardless I'll have to investigate when I get back."

Tea nodded and looked away out the window for a moment before she looked at him. "What if you don't come back?"

"What kind of question is that? Are you stupid or something? Why wouldn't I come back?"

"I just have a bad feeling." She said.

He snorted. "Your "feelings" don't mean anything. Now I would like to enjoy the ride to the airport so kindly shut up."

"Yes, Kaiba." She said as he looked away. He never saw the hurt in her eyes and she wasn't sure if he had it would have mattered to him at all.

The limo pulled up to the airport where an average size man with abnormal hair stood waiting. He glanced at his watch and scowled. It was about time he had been waiting for almost an hour. He narrowed his red eyes as he saw one of the infuriating men he had ever known emerge from the limo.

"Kaiba!" He yelled. "What in the name of Ra took you so damned long! I've been waiting for over an hour!"

Seto glared at him but he simply glared back. He was one of the few who would. "Oh I'm so sorry to have kept the mighty Pharaoh waiting. If that stupid mutt of yours hadn't gotten away from his handler I would have been here at least five minutes earlier. I had to send him to the pound." He said with a smirk as brushed past him and onto the plane.

Atem sighed. This was not going to be a fun flight. Kaiba was still the same person he had always been and it was getting a bit tiresome. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Tea smiling at him. He returned her smile and asked "So what happened with Joey?"

She groaned and related to Atem what had happened at the award dinner. He smiled despite himself. "At least everyone is okay. But I thought that Kaiba's stepfather was making this trip, why is Kaiba here?"

"I'm not sure for some reason his stepfather decided Kaiba should go instead and he went along with it."

"Strange," Atem said. "That is very unlike Kaiba."

"I know. " Tea agreed. "I'm worried. Keep an eye on him okay."

"I will. I promise." Tea smiled at him and he returned it. He wanted to say something else but a voice stopped him.

"If you two want to make out, do it on your own time. I want to get this over with." Kaiba said.

Atem growled and walked past his smirking rival. Tea couldn't help giggle as she headed back to the car. 'Stay safe.' She thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Long time between updates and a short chapter but I have been working a lot lately and time just isn't on my side.

* * *

Chapter 3

The flight had been less than enjoyable for Seto Kaiba. First, his laptop had been dead and he hadn't been able to work until it had charged, and second he had lost 6 games of duel monsters, 4 games of chess and finally 3 games of tic-tac-toe to his annoying rival. To put it short, he was pissed. It wasn't that he lost, he could take losing with dignity, its that at the end, he was sure Atem had actually thrown the last few games and if there was anything he couldn't stand it was pity. The result was as soon as his laptop was charged he had set to work and ignored all attempts by Atem to start a conversation. But now that they had arrived he could get down to business.

As they got out of the plane, Seto quickly made his way to the waiting vehicle. A short ride later, and the testing field came into view. As the vehicle pulled to a stop, he looked around at the assembled military brass and sighed.

"Is something wrong?" Atem asked.

"I hate this part." Seto admitted then cursed. He was getting too comfortable around the geek squad, he wouldn't have normally have made such an admission.

Atem must have thought it was strange as well because he gave him a strange look before slipping out of the car and heading over to greet his superiors. It was weird to think that Atem had joined the army, but not possessing any valuable skills for the modern time he had little choice. He had, however, risen quickly through his natural leadership and the fact that he knew the vice president of Kaibacorp, the number one weapon supplier for the military. These two things had combined to get promoted to Kaibacorp Liason. Seto had tried to have him demoted and transferred far away but his stepfather had loved the idea and had kept him around just to annoy Seto.

Seto was all business as he quickly greeted each of the visiting officers in turn then took his place for the demonstration. "As you are all aware, weapons are used to win wars and create massive amounts of destruction. Let's not kid ourselves, we all know it, and the reason you come to Kaibacorp is because we do it better than anyone else. This, gentleman is the latest and greatest weapon: the Jericho missile."

As soon as he finished his speech, the missile launched and he braced himself for the shockwave of the explosion. He didn't need to wait long. The blast almost knocked him off his feet and he could tell that the brass were impressed. He got some mild satisfaction that Atem had been rendered speechless but overall the whole thing made him feel hollow. After he confirmed the order for the missiles, he went straight to the waiting hummer.

"Kaiba!" he heard Atem call but he ignored him and told the driver to go. Soon he would be home and then he would start investigating what Mai had told him.

Seto woke up. His head hurt. The last thing he remembered was a bright light and flashes of people shouting. And pain in his chest. He looked around. He was in a cave of some sort and he was very thirsty. He looked to his left and on a small table he saw a cup of water. He tried to grab it but succeeded only in spilling it on the cave floor. That was when he noticed the cables extending from his chest to what looked like a car battery on the table. He had never been one to panic, but as he unwrapped the bandages around his torso he began to feel real fear, mixed with shock as he saw a circular metallic something was grafted to his chest.

"I see you're awake." A voice said.

Seto looked up to see a well dressed older man standing in front of a mirror where he was finishing a shave. "Who the hell are you, where the hell am I, what the hell is going on, and most importantly what the hell is this!?" He yelled holding up the cords connected to the battery.

The old man chuckled. "My name is Arthur Hawkins, we are currently in a cave in the mountains somewhere, you and I are prisoners of a group that call themselves Paradias, and that is an electro magnet, hooked up to a car battery. You had a large amount of shrapnel in your chest. I removed what I could and that is keeping what's left from reaching your heart."

Seto let that sink in. He had to get to some real medical help soon. He needed time to think and really wanted something to drink. He was about to ask where he could get some more water when a small view port opened in the door and some people began shouting in several languages he didn't understand.

"Stand up!" Arthur said, "Do as I do. Put your hands up."

The door opened and a half dozen men wielding some very familiar weapons ran into the room shouting orders.

Seto narrowed his eyes as he studied each man and the weapons they were holding. Those definitely his weapons, not a knock off or copycat design. The question was how these idiots had gotten a hold of them when he checked every shipment? There were only three possibilities. The first was that they had stolen them a however they had been stolen from either didn't know or hadn't reported it. The second was that his stepfather was dealing under the table. While he didn't doubt that Gozoboro would do it, he knew that every weapon made by the company was accounted for. He knew who bought every shipment which led to the third possibility: someone that he had sold to was buying them to supply Paradias. The thought made him feel sick again and, as a consequence, he was not standing when the man with the red hair walked in.

Seto looked him over. He was about Seto's age, maybe a little older, with red hair. He was also dressed like a male prostitute. A short tank top exposed his stomach and he was also wearing some tight leather pants and a long coat. His two friends didn't look much better. One was short with spiky brown hair, goggles, and what looked like a leather vest. The other was tall and quite muscular. He apparently shared the others idea of fashion with his blond hair spiked up and a tight tank top. All three were wearing combat boots. "Who the hell are you?" Seto asked.

"Someone who should be treated with more respect." The red head said.

"I don't do requests." Seto said.

"I wasn't asking." He said.

Seto smirked. "I don't take orders either."

The red head started to walk forward but the big blonde held him back. Not yet Alistair."

"But Raphael" Alistair started but one look from the big guy and he shut his mouth and settled for glaring at Seto.

"Mr. Kaiba," the one called Raphael said. "if you wish to remain alive, you will do exactly what we tell you."

"And what's that exactly?" Seto asked, his glare enough to make several of the henchman take a step back.

"We want you to build us that missile of yours." He replied.

"Go to hell." Seto said.

Alistair smiled. "I hoped you'd say that, now we get to persuade you." He gestured and several men walked forward and grabbed Seto. He fought at first, but a blow to the head quickly took any fight out of him and he was hauled out of the room.

The next week was a blur of pain, unconsciousness, and waking but still he refused. He wouldn't let these bastards have such a weapon no matter what they did to him, he didn't want that on his conscience. During his moments of consciousness he had learned that the one with the brown spiky hair was named Valon and he had caught occasional glimpses of a person he was sure was the leader. A man with aqua colored hair down to his mid back who always wore white clothes. He did not know his name but was sure that he hated him. He could hear voices approaching and Arthur was telling him to get on his feet. He did, just so that when they opened the door they could see he was still standing and defying them. As usual the door opened and the usual group of cronies entered. This time though, they didn't say anything. They just grabbed him and Arthur, threw bags over their heads and lead them away.

Seto memorized the path threw the cave, noting two left turns, a right, and another left before that bag was removed allowing him to see. For a moment he was blinded by the sun but then he looked around at the camp. Everywhere he looked were men armed with Kaibacorp weapons and boxes filled with more. The canyon was non descript, it could have been any canyon anywhere in the world.

"What do you think?" a voice asked from behind.

Seto turned to see the man with the aqua hair standing behind him. He glared as he replied. "I think you have a lot of my weapons. What I want to know is how."

The man smiled. "You do not need to know that. What you do need to know is that your…unwillingness to assist us has grown tiresome. We have everything here you need to build the missile. I expect it in two weeks."

Seto looked at him like he had grown a second head. "I will not. What could make you think I'd agree just like that?"

The man smiled. "You have a brother do you not?" Seto said nothing but the color drained from his face. "I'm sure that you would not what anything to happen to him. I'll tell you what, you build my missile and after it is completed, I'll let you go and be with your brother."

The man smiled at Seto and extended his hand. Seto looked at it and he knew that he would not be allowed to leave here alive. But he needed to be sure that Mokuba would be alright. He took the man's hand. "You've got a deal."

* * *

Well that's chapter 3 I hope to have the fourth chapter by Valentine's day but if I keep having to put in 40 hours of overtime every week, probably not.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello. Well here is an update after three plus years. It's been a huge pain in my ass for a lot of reasons but I finally got it done. I didn't orginally plan to post it until I had finished the story, but while writing the next chapter I realized that I had forgotten to cast someone as Agent Colson. Probably because when I started this I didn't know what an important character he would become. So I need some ideas. If I remain in the fandom I'm looking at Duke Devlin or perhaps one of the minor duelists like Rex or Weevil. I suppose I could even go with Marik or Bakura but I want to save them in case I do sequels and need villains. So What do you think? If anyone recommends a character from a different fandom please include the anime they appear in so I can check them out if I haven't seen it. Thank you.

On with the story. A special thanks to K5Rakitan for showing the interest in this story that prompted me to really get back into it.

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or Iron Man.

* * *

Arthur Hawkins couldn't believe his eyes. Kaiba had folded so easily after all he had endured and was now flying around the cave like a mad man, grabbing bits and pieces from the various crates of parts that had been brought in for his use. "Have you lost your mind? Do you know what these butchers are likely to do with your weapon?"

"Of course." Seto replied. "Its why we we need to escape as quickly as possible."

"Escape?" Arthur asked. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I have a few ideas," said the CEO as he fished out still more parts with a smirk, "but first I need to lose this battery, lugging it around is getting tiresome, and I don't want to have to haul it with me when I leave."

With that he took his collection of odds and ends over to the work bench that had been provided him and got to work. Arthur didn't do much over the next several hours except watch Seto. It was truly an amazing thing to watch. The young man worked tirelessly, late into the night. In fact, when Arthur awoke the next day Kaiba asked if he had steady hands. "What?" he said, confused.

"I asked about your hands." Kaiba said irritably. "I've been working all night and I need to pour this palladium mixture into a mold. My hands are a bit shaky from fatigue and I don't want to spill it, since I don't have enough for another try."

Arthur nodded and got to his feet. He held out his hands, which were steady as a rock. Kaiba nodded approvingly and handed Arthur a pair of tongs. He then led him over to a furnace in the corner. Arthur grabbed the small cup of molten metal and began to walk slowly but steadily toward the work bench. He could see the various things that Seto had stacked under the bench to make it level, and the small mold sitting on top. Once he arrived, he poured the material in without spilling a drop.

"I have very steady hands," Arthur said proudly, "its why you are still alive."

Seto scowled slightly, but couldn't deny the fact. A few minutes later the metal had cooled and Arthur watched as Kaiba fitted the small circle into the device he had built. "Time to power it up." Seto said as he plugged it into the cavern's power supply and switched it on. The lights in the room dimmed to almost nothing, in fact the entire cavern had experienced the power drain.

"Quick," Seto said, "help me get this in." He knew that it wouldn't be long before Dartz or one of his cronies came to see what the power loss was all about.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, staring at the small device with wonder.

"It's a miniature arc-reactor. I have a big one powering one of the factories back home. It should provide all the power we'll need."

It didn't take long to install the device. Arthur removed the battery, and connected the magnet to it's new power source. He was impressed with how well it fit into the port that had already been placed in Seto's chest. As it turned out, they finished not a minute too soon as the door opened and several armed men entered. Dartz and Raphael were with them.

Dartz looked around the room with an appraising glance before walking up to Seto. He glanced at the glowing device implanted in his chest with curiosity before stating the obvious. "That doesn't look like my missile."

Seto didn't flinch, he simply regarded Dartz with a cool look. "That's because its not. I couldn't work effectively with THAT", he kicked the battery, "getting in the way."

"You worked effectively enough to waste time and resources on your little trinket. I trust my missile can be built just as quickly." It wasn't a question it was a statement and Seto knew that he would need to move very quickly if the plans he had been working on were going to work. Dartz turned and began to make his way out the door. "You have one week. Take any longer and we kill him", he pointed toward Aurthur, "and after that, well I can't guarantee how long little Mokuba will remain safe."

Seto started forward but Raphael pushed him back hard and he crashed to the floor. Weeks of torture, little food and working through the night had left him weak and he simply couldn't keep his balance. By the time he had gotten back to his feet the men had gone, leaving he and Aurthur alone.

"I do hope whatever you're planing will take less than a week." Aurthur said with a nervous chuckle.

Seto said nothing. He didn't know if he could finish this in a month, let alone a week but he supposed he had to try. He wouldn't call Aurthur a friend, but he did owe him his life. He couldn't stand by and let him die. Besides Mokuba was in danger and he would not let these thugs harm him. But first he needed some rest. He Hated to admit it, but he was drained and he couldn't afford any mistakes now. He looked at Aurthur. "I need some rest, but I don't want to waste time. Take the tools and start taking apart those missiles, just like we did before, I'll need the parts. When I wake up we'll go into the plan in detail."

* * *

"So let me get this straight, you want to build a suit of armor and use it to escape from here?" Arthur looked at Seto like he had lost his mind, even as he helped him work. It seemed ridiculous, and sorely out of date. He had been expecting something less hands on, like a transmitter so they could call for rescue or something. Seto looked annoyed that Arthur was even questioning him.

"Well the original plan called for an airplane shaped like a dragon so we could fly out of here, but that seemed impractical given the time constraints." Kaiba replied sarcastically. It was only half a joke, one of his early plans HAD been for a robot dragon, but he had discarded it given what he had to work with. Besides with no idea where they were he couldn't very well rely on somebody finding them, even if he managed to get a signal out of the cave. The only choice was to self rescue and the only way to that without getting shot was to be bullet proof, hence the armor. The arc reactor would provide the power he needed, and if he made the suit right he wouldn't need to worry about all the terrorists with guns. If they weren't under such a time crunch he would have built a second suit for Arthur, but, as it was, they would be lucky to finish this one in time.

The old man just snorted. He was becoming used to Kaiba's barbs and sarcasm and, he had to admit, that for all his personality shortcomings the young man was probably the most brilliant person he had ever met. Despite his griping, this suit was very impressive. The hydraulics and pneumatics gave it incredible strength while allowing for easy operation, and the thick armor would make him impervious to all but the heaviest weapons. It would take at least an anti tank round to get through it. Still it was a risky plan, made all the more so by the fact that they were watched constantly. The camera had a near perfect view of the room and if they attempted to conceal their work, the guards would come down to check. So they did most of the work behind an open missile. The guards weren't the sharpest and just assumed that since they were by a missile, they were working on the missile. He only hoped the ruse would hold.

Seto had already finished the left leg and had Artur copying his work on the right, meanwhile he was putting some work into the missile. He wasn't going to make it functional, just make it look good in case anybody stopped by for an inspection. Arthur was competent enough since all he was doing was copying the one he had already built in reverse. Kaiba had to admit the old man was growing on him. He was reliable and Kaiba didn't think he'd be able to pull this off without him. If they made it through this he would have to find a way to reward him.

It was during one of their infrequent breaks that he discovered that Arthur played duel monsters, even better he was pretty good. They had played a few times and Seto kept winning with his Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Every time Arthur would smirk and say that if he could get his trump card he would surprise Seto. The CEO was intrigued but didn't take him seriously till their fourth game, when Arthur finally got his card.

Seto had been in the lead, 1500 life points to Arthur's 1200, but had lost his Blue-Eyes to a trap. All he had on the field was his Vorse Raider. He didn't even have a trap. Arthur had Cannon Soldier and had been using it to whittle down his life points. His rush to destroy it ad cost him his Blue-Eyes. Arthur smiled and played his card, Pot of Greed, then proceeded to play a series of cards that won him the game. First was Book of Moon, flipping Vorse Raider into face down defense mode. Then he used Ancient Rule To Summon HIS Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the field before using Fairy Meteor Crush to trample over his Vorse Raider for the win.

Seto was speechless for several seconds, the he stated laughing. "I spent almost a year and a half looking for the last Blue-Eyes card. I can't believe that I would finally find it HERE of all places!"

Arthur smiled. "Why would you want it so badly when you already have the other three?"

For a long moment Kaiba thought about the lie he told everyone else, then he decided that the truth wouldn't hurt him here. "I tell most people that I wanted it so it couldn't be used against me, the truth is I've always felt a special attachment to these cards, almost like a part of my soul is missing that only these cards can fill. It might be silly, but I've felt more…complete since acquiring the three I have. If I'm grateful to my bastard step-father for one thing its giving me the means to acquire these cards. I never would have been able to without Kaibacorp's money and resources.

"Hmm, maybe somehow it was meant to be. It is quite a coincidence that you and this card should end up in the same place at the same time, a place that neither of us ever intended to be." Arthur said. He thought for a moment before pulling out his Blue-Eyes and handing it to Seto. "Now you have the whole set, I hope it completes your soul."

Seto didn't know what to say. "I can't take this Arthur, not that I don't appreciate it, but its too valuable to just be given away."

Arthur shook his head. "You have given something far more valuable in return, hope. I actually think I may see my granddaughter again and you can't put a price on that. Just think of it as a gift, From one friend to another."

The denial was on his lips but somehow he simply couldn't do it. If this man, who had saved his life, was helping him with his plans even though they were crazy, and now had given him his most prized possession as a gift, was not worthy of the title friend he likely would never find one. Without this man he would have already given up. "Thank you". was all he said. Arthur smiled.

The week had flown by and Kaiba was exhausted. He had gotten very little sleep lately, especially with Alistair breathing down his neck. That guy had been a real pain in his ass with his random inspections, and while the fake missile had fooled him he had come dangerously close to finding the armor several times. As it was though, Kaiba had finished with it several hours earlier and was now resting. He was going the need all the energy he could get very soon. Arthur was unconscious across the room, having fallen asleep at the table when they had been fitting the last parts together. Soon they would both be out of there and Kaiba could go to Mokuba, and Arthur to his granddaughter that he spoke so fondly of. It couldn't be soon enough for Seto.

Suddenly the door flew open and a group of men entered with Dartz. Kaiba had a moment of panic until he remembered that he had hidden the suit just in case another inspection happened. He was not happy to see Dartz was with them. The guy was much smarter and more perceptive than his underlings. Seto would just need to hope that he didn't let anything slip.

Dartz looked at the missile, then at Kaiba. "Doesn't look much like the picture does it?"

Seto shrugged. "I didn't have the right casing. I needed to improvise. All I need is the ordinance for the warheads. It won't be perfect, but it will work just fine."

Dartz looked at the missile again and Seto had to stamp down the panic. The look on his face told him that Dartz knew something was off, he just didn't know what. Damn the perceptive bastard. Fortunately, Dartz's technical knowledge wasn't as great as intuition. He may know something was wrong, but he didn't know what. He looked at Raphael. Raphael nodded and grabbed Arthur. Kaiba immediately started forward but two of the men shoved guns in his face and he backed up.

Dartz smiled at Arthur and, to his credit, the old man stared straight back, not looking at all afraid. "So," Dartz said, "is what he says true, is my missile ready?"

"Almost." Arthur replied. "A day, two at most and it will be ready. I assure you, he has been working very hard, we both have."

"Yes, but not always on my missile." Dartz pulled back Kaiba's shirt so he could look at the arc reactor. "You think I'm a fool? The great Seto Kaiba, the great genius, wouldn't need a week to assemble a simple missile if he was working as hard as you say." He nodded to Raphael and the big man forced Arthur to his knees as Dartz retrieved a burning coal from the forge. "What have you been doing all this time?"

"Building the Jericho." Arthur said a bit of fear in his voice. Dartz repeated the question several times but Arthur stuck to his answer. Finally just as Dartz was about to burn him with coal, Seto spoke up.

"If you injure him, it will take longer. Yes, if I had the proper facilities I could make this missile in days but I don't. He's a good assistant and I'll need him to finish on time."

Dartz looked at Seto for a moment before dropping the coal on the anvil near Arthur's face. "You have till tomorrow. If it is still not ready I kill him and your brother." He then left the room and the one who Seto didn't see much, Valon, got the list of things Seto would need to build his warhead. Then they were gone.

"That was close." Arthur said while rubbing his wrist and shoulder where Raphael had held hm.

"Yes it was. After they drop off the explosives I think it will be time to make our escape." Seto said. His mind was already working, going over the route he would take and how to take out as many of his stolen weapons as possible. He sat down at the small computer and set up the activation sequence for the suit. It was now or never.

* * *

The explosives were delivered, along with a picture of Mokuba. It was a reminder, in case Seto tried to use the explosives for anything other than their intended purpose. The picture gave him pause, as he was putting Mokuba at risk with this escape attempt, but he knew he needed to take his chance. The alternatives were either death, which would leave his brother at their step-father's mercy, or Mokuba being used to force him to make more weapons. Valon had dropped off the supplies and left and Seto had very quickly devised a crude explosive charge to blow the door. It was set as a booby trap that would go off it someone attempted to open the door. They couldn't afford to be seen while he was putting the armor on and he figured someone would come to have a look after they were out of sight for awhile. As it turned out, his assumption was dead on.

Arthur had almost finished bolting the armor plates together when the shouts of the guards ordering them to step out where they could be seen could be heard from the door. The explosion told Seto they had tried to come in and Arthur's look confirmed it.

"Did it work?" Seto asked.

"Oh it worked alright, every guard in the cave will coming here in minutes." Arthur replied.

"Then we better hurry. Hit shift, then F10 to start the boot sequence, then come here and finish tightening these bolts."

Arthur did as instructed but the yells of approaching guards told him they were almost out of time. He glanced at the screen, which showed the sequence only twenty percent complete and knew they would need more time. He grabbed a rifle from one of the downed guards. "We're going to need more time, I'm going to get it for you." He then ran into the tunnel firing the rifle.

Seto yelled for Arthur to come back. The old fool had never handled a gun before in his life, he was just going to get himself killed. He could hear the gunfire as well as men yelling as they approached. Seconds seemed like hours before the sequence completed and the whole room went black.

Raphael, Alistair, and Valon ran into the room and looked around. The door had blown outward and they weren't sure if Kaiba was still in the room or not. Alistair moved into the room scanning carefully. The only hiding place he could see was an upright work table on the left side of the room. He made his way toward it and very surprised to see a suit of armor, larger than man sized, standing there. He didn't know where it had come from, or why it would have been in the workshop. He moved closer for a better look.

Raphael and Valon were not expecting to see Alistair flying across the room and were even less prepared for the metal monstrosity that had so causally batted him aside. They opened fire but quickly realized their bullets weren't even slowing the construct down. They ran, other men joining them in their panicked flight as they headed for one of the reinforced doors that closed off sections of the cave. As they ran they could hear the heavy footfalls of their pursuer. They reached the door and rushed through, securing the door behind them and locking one of their people in.

'Look at them run.' Seto thought. 'Not so fun when your on the receiving end is it?' He had been making his way through the cave looking for any sign of Arthur, smashing everyone he came across, and was pleased that the group he was chasing was basically leading him out. He saw them close the door ahead of him, and for a moment felt a twinge of sympathy for the obviously terrified man who was locked in with him. But that was gone as soon as it started. There was no point in sympathy, they had shown him none, nor Arthur, nor any of the probably hundreds, if not thousands they had killed. He hit the man so hard that he dented the door with his impact, then proceeded to pound the door till it fell. It didn't take much. Steel or not, it wasn't anchored very well in the wall and a few solid hits knocked it inward causing the men on the other side to run away in blind panic. Seto swung at one but missed and his arm got caught in the rock. As he was attempting to pull it free, Valon took the opportunity to aim his pistol at Seto's head and fired. The bullet bounced off of the steel helmet and hit Valon in the head. He crumpled to the ground as Seto freed his arm. He would have loved to continue his pursuit, but the men were running further into the tunnels, and he was going out. He rounded the last corner and saw Arthur, laying on the ground, bleeding from various bullet wounds and barely breathing. He started to go toward him.

"Watch out!" Arthur gasped and Seto barely pulled up in time to avoid a rocket attack from Dartz. Kaiba responded with his own improvised rocket which struck the wall near to Dartz and knocked him the ground. He didn't move and Seto went to Arthur.

"Time to go." He said, although even as he looked at Arthur he knew it was a lost cause. How the man wasn't dead already he didn't know.

Arthur smiled weakly before pulling something from his pocket. "I don't think I'm going to make it. I never really thought I would. I need you to do me a favor." He handed Kaiba the item, which Seto saw was a picture of a blonde haired little girl. "That's my granddaughter, Rebecca. If you could, I would like you to find her and take care of her. I was her only family. Will you do this for me?" He gasped.

"I will. " Seto said although he wasn't sure Arthur heard him. He had stopped breathing and Seto looked toward the exit. He didn't want to leave Arthur's body behind, but he couldn't carry him and still do what needed to be done. He reluctantly left Arthur and made his way into the sunlight. He had revenge on his mind.

* * *

As soon as Seto cleared the cave a dozen or so men outside opened fire on him. He stood there while the bullets pinged harmlessly off his suit and waited for the impacts to cease before taking a good look around. The men below seemed unsure about what they should do. After all, they had emptied their weapons at him and he hadn't even stumbled. Seto smiled behind his helmet. It wasn't a nice smile. "My turn."

Twin bursts of flame issued from the makeshift flamethrowers on Kaiba's wrists. He was pleased to see that they worked so well as he began to make his way through the valley burning every piece of equipment, every box, every thing he could see with the Kaibacorp logo on it. He wasn't going to let these bastards hurt anyone else with his weapons, not if he could help it.

All around him the men were yelling and running everywhere, some trying to put out the fires, some trying to save the weapons, others trying to shoot him. Most were just in a blind panic. One managed to get to a .50 cal machine gun on a ledge above him and opened fire. While the armor was holding up just fine, the larger impacts knocked Seto off balance and forced him to one knee. He redirected his flame toward the machine gun and it was quickly consumed, and so was the majority of the canyon. Seto realized that he needed to leave. There was a lot of explosive material in this camp and it was just a matter of time before the fire caused an explosion.

'I really hope these work' Seto thought as he activated the jets in his boots. It turned out to be not a moment to soon as the entire canyon was consumed in a giant fireball. Seto rocketed clear, but quickly realized he had no way of steering or controlling his descent. As he saw the dunes speeding toward him, he could only think about how bad this was going to hurt. He hit with more of a plop than a boom. He was never so glad for sand in his life. Had he hit rock or even dirt he likely would have died, or at the very least suffered some broken bones. As it was he appeared to be fine. Sore all over and stuck in a desert, but otherwise fine. He glanced back toward the canyon and could see thick black smoke pouring into the sky.

If a military patrol was anywhere nearby, and given that he was pretty sure he was till in the same country as he started it was likely, he wouldn't have to wait long before someone came to investigate. As it turned out he was right. Within ten minutes he could hear the choppers and a minute after that he could see them. He grabbed a piece of reflective metal from his shattered suit and reflected the sun as a signal. One of the choppers turned and came in for a landing while the other two continued to the canyon. Kaiba was exhausted and thought about just passing out right there. The sight of some very familiar hair running toward him changed that though. He would never show weakness in front of Atem. Instead he stood up straighter, plastered his patented smirk on his face and waited.

"Kaiba! Are you all right?" Atem asked. The worried look in his eyes almost made Seto think about being nice, almost.

"Took you long enough." Was all the CEO said before walking past Atem toward the waiting chopper. His smirk widened a bit at the frustrated growl that Atem made but he was in a bit of a hurry. He wanted to get to the chopper before he passed out. It was going to feel good to be home.


End file.
